Much has been written in many places, not the least of which is the Bible, on fasting. Read up on it. Did you ever have anyone at the seminary encourage you to seriously consider fasting as part of a regular spiritual discipline? Neither did I. But I am now: seriously consider fasting as part of a regular spiritual discipline. Fasting […]
Your seminary training did not train you to be a leader. It couldn’t. Seminary training rightfully focuses on training students to be and think like theologians. While you may have spent some time on leadership development, that is not the point of being at the seminary. You’re not at the seminary anymore. Get yourself leadership training, lots of it. Pastor […]
“I tell you the truth,” is a happy translation for the word “amen.” “Truly, truly,” is pretty good too. Doesn’t it always sound nice to hear Jesus start a statement by, “I tell you the truth…” He rightly identified himself as the way, the TRUTH and the life. As you know, truth has taken a beating. People are not even […]
Did you guess the third “big issue’ on the path toward significance was power? When it comes to temptation and personal failure, money, sex and power are the big three. Here’s what you might not guess: the biggest of these temptations is power. Do not underestimate the power that you have as a pastor. The power you have is independent […]
As pastor you should be building lots of good and lasting relationships. The longer you are a pastor the more you will find that connection with people drives significance in ministry. Humanly speaking, you make it or break it as a pastor depending on whether or not you relate well with other people. One of the key aspects regarding relationships […]
DON’T TOUCH IT. As pastor in your congregation, it is a good idea never to touch money—the congregation’s cash that is. Money is one of the three great temptations. Many a pastor has lost his ministry and damaged his congregation because he took money that was not his. Normally small things start this. You have a petty cash fund that […]
Not everything you learned in Seminary is true or helpful. Certainly, the Bible is both. But some of the things the professor said are neither. Your professors were learned not infallible. This post deals with a topic I never found to be true, or at least not particularly helpful or complete. “A home going pastor makes for a church going […]
One of my anxieties as a beginning pastor was praying publicly. I remember as a freshly minted minister being asked to say the prayer at the potluck for my first installation. The pressure was on. My wife was present, mom and dad too. Area clergy, veterans of many a potluck prayer, stood waiting to hear what kind of fella the Seminary was […]
To state the obvious: you must make sure that you spend time with your family, corporately and individually. Daily, weekly and seasonally, e.g. vacations, you need to be with the family and they need to be with you. You neglect this to the detriment of all: yourself, your family, your ministry. Having stated the obvious, let me address this issue […]
Holidays are hard. Unless you come from a pastor’s family, I am not sure there is any way to really be prepared for how hard the holidays are for a pastor. I know I wasn’t. This is not to whine, but it must be brought out into the open. If you do not deal well with the special challenges of […]